Exporting To GMAX

[daderic888 215]

I built part of what I wish to build. It has not been rendered yet. I'm trying to export it from SC4 BAT to GMAX so that I can bring it to the Lot Editor to see what it looks like and if I need to resize it.

I go to export it from SC4BAT and the file is shown as a .P3D file. It looks like it was saved ok.

But when I open up GMAX and try to import it using all file types (as the default file is a .gmax file), an error message comes up saying:

"File Open Failed: C:\gmax\gamepacks\BAT\plugins\xxxx.P3D"

What's the go? Am I missing something? What am I doing wrong?

Please help out.

Thanks.

[MushyMushy 3,617]

That's just not how you export a BAT model from gmax (SC4 BAT - the two words are used interchangeably since SC4 BAT is essentially just a plugin/addon for gmax).

You need to open your model (xxxx.gmax) and then go to the top right corner of the screen and click the icon that looks like a hammer. From there, there are three dropdown rollouts "Export," "Parameters," and "Preview." Make sure your model is centered in the scene and then open the Parameters rollout. Click Re-fit LOD's (this will create simple LODs for your model). This works fine for beginner modelers who have modeled a simple prop or an orthogonal  building. In other instances custom ones will need to be made but that's not worth my time to get into right now. From there, feel free to open the Preview rollout (if you want a preview render) and select the render quality for your preview (High is the one you should pick since that's how it will appear in-game). Click the HD button only if the thing you are exporting is small (e.g. small detailed props are really the only thing you should do HD for). Select a view (E, N, S, W) and then hit either Day or Day & Night for a test render (should be obvious what the difference is). If you're happy with the result, open the export rollout. Make sure it's set to High quality and then hit the Export button. Now the model file is in the SC4 Plugins directory. After that, open the Plugin Manager program and mod it as whatever (if you're just testing the look of it, it's easiest to just mod it as a prop, regardless of what it will actually be in the end). Fire up the Lot editor, open a random lot (make sure the lot is big enough), and find your prop and stick it on the lot. My experience is that with the exception of shadows and such, the LE looks very similar to the game, so this is a good testing ground. However, to test the nightlights you'll have to actually test it in-game (which should obviously be done anyway prior to release).

[daderic888 215]

Thanks MushyMushy, it worked :-)